"Regular" Nylon vs. Ripstop Nylon

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chalinaty

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My local Wal-mart has lots of thin and some thicker nylon for $1.97 (Canadian) per metre (about $1US/yard). I picked some up, not knowing what ripstop nylon looked like.
Fabricland has ripstop in about a dozen colours for $10/m! What I got is definitely not ripstop--no little squares.
If I'm using it to make parachutes for my after-school rocket club where we use A-D size engines and are just getting into 2-engine clusters, will it make much difference? I know the ripstop is stronger, but does it need to be for our purposes?
Thanks for any advice.
 
Originally posted by chalinaty
My local Wal-mart has lots of thin and some thicker nylon for $1.97 (Canadian) per metre (about $1US/yard). I picked some up, not knowing what ripstop nylon looked like.
Fabricland has ripstop in about a dozen colours for $10/m! What I got is definitely not ripstop--no little squares.
If I'm using it to make parachutes for my after-school rocket club where we use A-D size engines and are just getting into 2-engine clusters, will it make much difference? I know the ripstop is stronger, but does it need to be for our purposes?
Thanks for any advice.

Chute strength usually matters when ejection happens significantly before or after apogee, ie. when the rocket is moving fast, and when the rocket is heavy. Smaller rockets don't weigh enough for it to matter. Many MPR kits (E to G power, weighing < 1 pound) come with nylon chutes, non-rip stop type, so it should be fine for yours. They usually do, however, have pretty good sewing connecting the shrouds to the chute. I wouldn't use through-the-chute connections, even for your smaller birds. They can still reach 100+ MPH coming straight down if there's a very late ejection.
 
The chute in my 9lb SS TOG is not ripstop. I had to make it before my order of chute clothe came in. It is 72" and works just fine. Are you making parasheets or parachutes?
 
I got some thin nylon from Wally world on the dollar rack and have been making parasheets in 12" and 14" , they work great. I also done some out of ripstop but the thinner nylon works better for the lite rockets.
 
Keep watching Wally World and be patient - they occasionly get ripstop. I found some lightweight stuff in several different colors. I bought 15 yds of bright orange, about 10 yds each of grey, white, and dark green. I also found heavier orange ripstop that is just like the commercially made chutes that I have bought. All of this was in the clearance section for $1.00/yd. I have made a bunch of parasheet chutes from 12 inch to 48 inch and all have worked great.

Harry
 
Here is a pic of 2 - 12" and 1 - 18" parasheet chutes. The green ones are made from light nylon and the yellow one is made from ripstop material. After playing with them in a few rockets, I find the lite nylon works better in small (2" and under)LPR's.

Picture030.jpg
 
I was thinking about doing some parachutes, but I think I might start with some parasheets first. Should be good enough for our purposes.

krsconstruction, those look great!
How did you attach the shroud lines?
What did you use for shroud lines?
Did you hem the edges of the parasheets?
 
What you're paying for in ripstop vs. regular nylon is durability.

It's fairly obvious but, with ripstop if a tear ever develops the tear won't continue beyond the affected "squares" - the points where the nylon is embedded. You can continue to use the ripstop chute, with various size holes, without the fear of it tearing further. Obviously a large tear won't spread, but it could have an affect on your decent rate during a recovery; >20fps. With standard nylon, if the tear starts it'll continue to rip, unless adequately repaired. Even a rapid ejection and/or decent can tear the standard nylon further, if punctured, on it's way down.

In the A.F. ripstop was standard material in our summer-weight battle-dress uniforms (bdu's) and our desert camouflage uniforms (dcu's); hearty/lightweight material.
 
In most cases our holes are burn holes which seal when they happen. I do use a rip-stop nylon in my chutes and it is still very soft and light as some of you can attest but it is not $1 a yard LOL. When you can get a decent chute using $1 a yard fabric go for it. When you need a big chute though don't use this stuff, get in touch with me.
 
When I do a small chute (Parasheet) out of the ripstop (yes, its real ripstop for a buck), I use a soldering iron with a sharpened blade tip to cut out the shape. I like 8 sided, but have done 6. I ususally don't hem the edge of the small chutes - just the larger ones, and haven't had any problems. For my shroud lines, I like braided chalk line in flourescent colors. I think the braided is easier to sew than the twisted line.

Harry
 
I have gotten some real nice thin mil ripstop for a dollar per yard. It's not much thicker than a trash bag, very good stuff, packs nicely. Much thinner than the standard Top Flight material. I've gotten it in Orange, Army Green, and Gray, all from the dollar table at Walmart. Not a whole bolt mind you, these are generally just remnants about 7 or 8 yards a pop, but plenty enough to make some chute's with. I've scored lots of the standard mil ripstop too from there, in assorted colors. Just takes a little patience.
 
The stuff at WW can work for chutes and you can find rip-stop there but there are many different grades of rip-stop nylon.
 
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